Searching for muonphilic dark sectors with proton beams

Abstract

Proton beam-dump experiments are a high-intensity source of secondary muons and provide an opportunity to probe muon-specific dark sectors. We adopt a simplified-models framework for an exotic light scalar particle coupling predominantly or exclusively to muons. Equipped with state-of-the-art muon simulations, we compute the sensitivity reach in the parameter space (mS,gμ)(mS,gμ) of the dark mediator, examining in detail the examples of the experiment NA62 in beam-dump mode and the proposed experiment SHiP. We find a significant yield of such exotics in the sub-GeV mass range. Our projections are competitive with those of primary muon-beam experiments and complementary to current constraints, spanning uncharted parameter space and accessing new physics potentially responsible for the (g2)μ anomaly.

Publication
Physical Review D, Volume 106 (2022), Issue 3, 035023, 13 pages